Fredy V & The Foundation - No Tribe, No I
Imagine this: you are at their live show, the opening song would have you wanting to clap along immediately, then when the beat comes in and the vocals start, you have the urge to get out of your chair and hit the dance floor, then the whole show, you just cannot sit back down. Yes, that was me in my bedroom listening to this.
You can catch Fredy V & The Foundation live at their album launch party tonight at 8:00pm at the Turbo Haus in Montreal.
Patrick Watson - Uh Oh
“I lost my voice ‘cause I talked too loud,” mourns Patrick Watson in “Silencio,” Uh Oh’s opening track. It’s a true story—the singer-composer wasn’t sure if his damaged vocal cords would ever heal. Though he’d recovered in time to make the record, he wisely kept his cast of plan B singers, resulting in a highly collaborative album that frequently explores the thematic avenues surrounding voice and voices in their abundance or absence.
Ribbon Skirt - PENSACOLA
Ribbon Skirt continues to be a stunning act of musical artistry and lyrical prowess that has picked up on the following behind their debut release and leaned on it to enhance it. You can tell that PENSACOLA turns up the notch on what made Bite Down one of the highlights of 2025, whether it is in the textured noise, the vocal dynamism, or the melodic composition. This only makes me all the more excited to see what Ribbon Skirt has coming up next for them.
Yoo II avec Nolan Potter - Yoo Doo Right, Population II, and Nolan Potter
Navigating the music industry can sometimes feel like an expedition, where every opportunity to find good recording conditions and analog gear serves the fight for survival. The road can sometimes be unforgiving and when it comes to certain things in life, you only get one chance. You must be ready for any hit-or-miss moments. The new album Yoo II avec Nolan Potter is the result of one of those moments.
JayWood - Leo Negro
Leo Negro paints a portrait of a multifaceted artist who has grown over the course of his output, and provides a reminder that creating space to express the myriad aspects of oneself usually enables the best art-making. Here the result is an interesting and soulful album that is even greater than the sum of its parts.
The Planet Smashers - On the Dancefloor
On The Dancefloor succeeds in the most fundamental way that Ska music can; it’s fun. It makes you want to party, to dance in your seat with no concern that your neighbor’s lit cigarette has fallen square in your lap. I had fun listening to On The Dancefloor, and you would too. Buy it from Bandcamp because Spotify is scum.
NO JOY - Bugland
There is an air of naturalist mysticism to Bugland that White-Gluz openly embraces with her depiction of the titular Bugland as a place of safety withdrawn away from the accelerated state of the music industry and capitalist demand which White-Gluz looks at with suspicion. Bugland takes what Motherhood was able to accomplish for White-Gluz’s creative development while adding collaboration to the mix to help bring out more out of that artistic direction.
Ada Lea - when i paint my masterpiece
Just as folk hero Maud Lewis’ tiny coastal cottage became her best known work of art, so, too, does Ada Lea’s daily life in the Mile End become the considered artwork itself. The album illustrates that with every friendship loved and lost, every Bunz trade secured, every street corner crossed, every kettle set to whistle, Levy is indeed painting her masterpiece.
Bloodshot Bill - So Fed Up
On So Fed Up, Bill coughs, wheezes, sneezes and sputters 12 tracks of grit, grease, and sleaze into our olfactory. And it smells, dare I say, quite good.
Elle Barbara - Word on the Street
Word On The Street is time-bending, evoking multiple eras with synths, drum machines, and dramatic key changes. It is bravely on the nose of this current moment in human history, and a triumph of independent artistry.
Bells Larsen - Blurring Time
Back in May 2024, I had the pleasure to attend the Land of Talk tour show at The Aviary, where I happened to stumble into Bells Larsen as an accompanying tour act. Soft spoken and with candid demeanour, Bells took the stage with what I’ve come to know now as some of the tracks featuring in his latest album Blurring Time.
Quinton Barnes - Black Noise
Now we are given a bit of a different take on Quinton Barnes’ creativity with the release of Black Noise only a few months after CODE NOIR was released. Both conceptually and in execution, this new album is a thoughtful interrogation into noise, improv, and experimental sound composition which started out of a casual 2022 tweet that he tossed into the aether: “‘I want to work with noise/improv musicians in some capacity … not sure how yet but the idea is there’.”
Backxwash - Only Dust Remains
The question was left hanging at the end of the former trilogy: what would a new Backxwash release look like after that set of releases? The answer that the album offers is a reconstruction of Backxwash sound prior to God Has Nothing To Do With This informed by the accomplishments of the last decade of her musical career.
DVTR - Live aux Foufounes
Live aux Foufounes is not derivative or tired or formulaic. It’s fresh and alive and pulsating. The music still contains some of the straight-time fury of punk, with bombastic, short songs played fast and loud. But they are also played really, really well.
Men I Trust - Equus Asinus & Equus Caballus
Men I Trust has released two excellent records when measured in their own terms. Both of these albums show off two aspects of how this band approaches composition and songwriting, and it is really up to the listener to discern which of these approaches appeals best to their aesthetic sensibilities.
Sled Island Edition: Thanya Iyer - TIDE/TIED
TIDE/TIED isn’t about quick fixes or grand gestures. It’s about the slow, patient work of coming back to yourself and to each other amid a fractured world.
Priors - Daffodil
On this Thursday’s Pick of the Week, Nigel Young reviews Daffodils by Priors.